The History of English Poetry

English literature is a treasure trove of wonderful poetry. From Shakespeare to Milton, Keats to Shelley and Tennyson to Yeats, this accessible history (especially written for Naxos Audiobooks) introduces the listener to countless small masterpieces, including all the old favorites and some lesser-known gems. Whitfield explores this most expressive of art forms and traces the historical development of a rich and diverse canon of poetical works.

The History of English Literature

English literature may very well be the greatest body of imaginative writing the world has yet seen. The human experience has been understood, interpreted, and conveyed by writers of genius in a tradition stretching through six or more centuries, from Chaucer to Philip Larking, from Defoe to William Golding.

Great Poets of the Romantic Age

With a dynamic spirit, these great English poets made a conscious return to nostalgia and spiritual depth. Each chose a different path, but they are united in a love of moods, impressions, scenes, stories, sights and sounds. In this collection of more than forty poems are some of the finest and most memorable works in the English language.

Seven Ages: An Anthology of Poetry with Music

This highly entertaining anthology of verse is the comic, tragic, tender, and telling story of life's seven ages, from childhood to old age. Within the framework of Shakespeare's speech, "The Seven Ages of Man," performed by Sir Ian McKellen, are 150 great poems from all ages, from Chaucer to Emily Dickinson to Walt Whitman and many others. The poem are presented by the finest cast ever assembled on one recording and includes Ralph Fiennes, Dame Judi Dench, John Cleese, Michael Caine, and more.

Collection: Popular Poetry / Popular Verse, Vol. 2

Nearly 100 of the most popular and loved poems in the English language, this collection is one of the most comprehensive anthologies of its kind available. It covers a remarkable range, from the striking vision of Blake and Shelley and the insights of Keats to lighter but equally memorable verse by Tennyson, Donne, and Edward Lear.

The Great Poets: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in collaboration with his friend, William Wordsworth, revolutionized English poetry. In 1798 they produced their Lyrical Ballads, poems of imagination and reflection using "the language of men" - pointing the way forward for a generation of Romantic poets.

Richard Burton Poetry Collection : Volume 2

Distinguished actor and six-time Academy Award nominee Richard Burton reads a selection of his favourite poetry. Volume 2 in this dramatic audiobook series includes selections from William Shakespeare, John Donne, and Thomas Hardy....

The Great Poets: John Keats

John Keats was largely unappreciated during his lifetime and died in Rome at the age of 26. Most of his 150 poems were written in just nine extraordinary months in 1819. This selection contains some of his finest works, including the principal "Odes", "La Belle Dame Sans Merci", "Old Meg", and "Much Have I Travelled".

The Lives and Works of the English Romantic Poets

The verse of the English Romantic poets is as daunting in its scope and complexity as it is dazzling in its technique and beautiful in its language. Now, in a series of 24 incisive lectures by an honored and distinguished teacher, scholar, and author, you can grasp how England's finest Romantic voices created their masterpieces.

A Way with Words IV: Understanding Poetry

In part IV of this fascinating series, Professor Drout submerses listeners in poetry's past, present, and future. Addressing such poetic luminaries as Milton,Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats, these lectures explain in simple terms what poetry is while following its development through the centuries.

The Great Poets: Gerard Manley Hopkins

A collection of the best-known poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889). One of the Victorian era's greatest writers, Hopkins' reputation has continued to grow since his death. This collection includes "The Windhover", "The Caged Skylark", "Carrion Comfort", "Spring", and "Fall and Inversnaid".

Popular Poetry, Popular Verse

With more than 80 of the most popular and loved poems in the English language, this collection is one of the most comprehensive anthologies of its kind. It covers a remarkable range, from the striking visions of Blake and Shelley and the insights of Keats to lighter but equally memorable verse by Tennyson.

The Great Poets: William Blake

Naxos AudioBooks begins its new series of Great Poets with William Blake. This program contains all of his most popular works - including "Tyger", "The Auguries of Innocence", and "Jerusalem" - as well as some lesser-known poetry that demonstrates the range and power of his verse.

The Great Poets: William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was born in Cockermouth, in the Lake District. His Lyrical Ballads, written in collaboration with Coleridge, was published in 1798, and shortly afterwards he settled in Dove Cottage, Grasmere, with his sister Dorothy. Inspired in his early manhood by the French Revolution, he grew disillusioned with revolutionary politics and in later life became decidedly conservative. He left a vast body of work, ranging from delicately simple lyrics to deeply meditative odes.

Why a poetry album? Easy answer: I love poetry. I love reading it. I love memorizing it. I love hearing great actors recite it. As the poet Mark Strand wrote, “Ink runs from the corners of my mouth / There is no happiness like mine / I have been eating poetry.” In the past, when I was full from eating, I have had the audacity to set poetry to music. But, on this audiobook, you will hear the music of the poems.

The Life and Writings of John Milton

There is no disputing that John Milton is considered one of the supreme writers in the history of English letters. Yet, for a number of reasons, many modern readers are unaware of the pleasures of his poetry and prose. These 12 lectures examine Milton's life and work in order to understand the richness and depth of his poetry, its ways of representing 17th-century English life and culture, and its impact on later writers and on English literary history as a whole.

Complete Poetry: Sonnets and Narrative Poems

The sonnets are a collection numbering 154 poems dealing with themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty, and mortality. They were probably written over a long period of Shakespeare's life up until 1609, when they were first printed. The first 17 poems, traditionally referred to as the "procreation sonnets", are addressed to a young man urging him to marry and have children in order to immortalize his beauty by passing it on to his descendants.

The Poets' Corner: The One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family

John Lithgow has compiled an outstanding collection of memorable poems and has gathered his famous friends to read them. The wide variety of carefully selected poetry in this audiobook provides the perfect introduction to reel in those who are new to poetry, and for poetry lovers to experience beloved verses in a fresh, vivid way. Lithgow offers insightful and sometimes poignant commentary to accompany each poem. His essential criterion is that "each poem's light shines more brightly when read aloud".

Poetry in Person: Twenty-five Years of Conversation with America's Poets

This first audio edition of Poetry in Person: 25 Years of Conversation with America’s Poets (Knopf, 2010), invites listeners into an intimate classroom with eight acclaimed poets. Full of compelling, in-depth conversation about manuscripts and drafts by the poets themselves, plus readings of the finished poems, these historic recordings offer one of the most detailed portraits ever produced of how poems are actually made.

The Great Poets: Alfred Lord Tennyson

The 200th anniversary of the birth of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892), one of the most popular of poets, is celebrated in 2009. Works such as The Charge of the Light Brigade, Crossing the Bar and Tears, Idle Tears have made him an internationally famous figure, and the second most quoted writer of all time (after Shakespeare).

Judi Dench and Michael Williams: With Great Pleasure

Two archive BBC Radio programmes in which Judi Dench and Michael Williams, accompanied by friends John Moffatt and Alec McCowen, read a cornucopia of poetry and prose. In this enchanting pair of programmes from 1991 and 1996, Dame Judi Dench and husband Michael Williams shared an eclectic selection of pieces that they loved, admired or simply found entertaining.

Walt Whitman said, "...poetry is the voice of the nation, expressing its deepest concerns, ambitions and longings," which is certainly true of the great classic poetry of America. This wide-ranging anthology, from the earliest poets of the 16th century to the present day, reflects the changing preoccupations and visions of Americans, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, E.E. Cummings, and more.

Publisher's Summary

English literature is a treasure trove of wonderful poetry. From Shakespeare to Milton, Keats to Shelley and Tennyson to Yeats, this accessible history (especially written for Naxos Audiobooks) introduces the listener to countless small masterpieces, including all the old favorites and some lesser-known gems.

Whitfield explores this most expressive of art forms and traces the historical development of a rich and diverse canon of poetical works. The lyrical powers of the most remarkable poets of the English language are illustrated with over 70 extracts.

This is the latest release from Naxos Audiobooks' successful History series, which includes accounts of English literature, theatre, and opera.

This is an engaging survey of English language poetry, incorporating poems from both England and America. The mark of a good survey is that is leaves you wanting to dig deeper into the subject, and this certainly book does that. The book covers not only different poets, but the development of poetry over the centuries, and it left me wanting more.

Derek Jacobi is an excellent reader, but he doesn't read most of the poems. The readers of the poems are themselves good, but be warned: poetry takes more concentration and involvement than our multi-tasking, couch-potato society is used to, and you'll find yourself rewinding to rehear many of the poems. It is well worth it.

The combination of the writing and narration is so stimulating that I often had to pause it so I could consider what I just heard. I enjoyed the general sweep of the history and discovered some poetry not previously on my radar.

I would have never believed that Derek Jacobi could sound as dull as any college professor until I started listening to this book. It made me leave the book, then come back to it, only to leave again. Yet my love of poetry is so strong, I kept coming back.

Then I found my mistake. It was not Mr. Jacobi who made the book hard to listen to. It was the poetry, the old 'must be translated into modern English to understand' poetry. For after Spense comes Shakespeare and then (for me) the poems begin to sing and Derek Jacobi's wondrous voice gave the poems wings.

So I listened, and back tracked, and listened again. Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Browning, Kipling, Whitman, Longfellow ... and the list goes on. Not enough of any one poet, just a reminder of the feasts they have laid before me.

So now I have pulled my dusty poetry books from the shelf and begun to read again.

I was expecting an anthology but this is a narrative history of the arts with examples read to illustrate the story. For a person like me who has little understanding of poetry this reaally gives a great overview. It is very well read by the narrator as well. It left me wanting to listen to more poetry

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

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5/9/15

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"profoundly illuminating and worth every penny"

I struggled to understand poetry before this book but brilliantly explained and narrated a revelation

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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